A Florida shop had to scrap its ice cream cone mascot because passers-by thought it looked like a man dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

"We were just trying to get people to come in," store employee Jasmine Gonzalez told CNN affiliate WTSP. "We thought it was something fun for people, but eventually people took it the wrong way."

The Ice Cream Family Corner and Sandwiches shop opened a few months ago in Ocala. The owners hired a man to stand outside the shop dressed in a vanilla ice cream cone costume to attract business.

At first store owners told WTSP they had no idea the outfit was upsetting passers-by, but then they noticed a drop in business, and began to wonder what was impacting their sales.

Eventually, Gonzalez said they were tipped off that people were avoiding the shop, because they thought the peaked cap was not an ice cream cone costume, but a KKK robe. The mascot was immediately pulled off the street.

Some customers told WTSP they could understand the confusion, while others laughed at the ordeal.

soundoff(222 Responses)

noemi

What should people expect mosy of them came over on bannan boats/rafts.and the others were slaves.the kkk are a bunch of inbreeds who moved there from alebamie send them back to there home state.there well be plenty of work for them now.same ppl well be working there farms that worked the land 100 yrs ago.stupid white trash and them negras

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